Analysis of the goals conceded against Manchester City (28/8)

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READER ALERT: This may make for painful reading.

Dzeko’s first goal – Nasri’s one-two with Aguero creates a good angle for the cross, and he delivers a superb ball for Dzeko to prod home.

City regain possession and Toure has the ball, with Corluka pressing.

The ball is moved wide to Nasri – Lennon works hard to get close to him. Modric is too high up the pitch to affect City’s progress – the lack of holding player is vital here.





Nasri carries the ball forward as our players look to get back into a meaningful defensive position.

Nasri finds Kompany and then takes possession back from him. Modric has taken responsibility for Aguero. Dzeko is marked by Assou-Ekotto and Kaboul. Corluka and Dawson are positioned relatively well.

Aguero darts off Modric to play a quick one-two with Nasri. Lennon must surely know what Nasri is going to try to do.

But Nasri’s run in behind Lennon beats him far too easily, and Corluka has not got close enough to be able to show Nasri down the line. Kaboul is goal-side of Dzeko, and seemingly in control.

Nasri whips in a fantastic cross, but Dzeko’s movement is the key. He runs to the near post to meet the ball. It’s not really possible to see this from the picture, but if you watch the video, note Kaboul’s bizarre defending. He doesn’t read the one-two at all, and almost gives up on defending, thinking that the ball is going to go back out towards the edge of the box. This split-second lapse is what allows Dzeko to beat him to the flight of the ball.

Kaboul recovers ground on Dzeko, but not enough to get to the ball first.

Dzeko finishes well, but this is Kaboul of old – a lapse in concentration and essentially a tap-in for a top class striker.

Dzeko’s second goal – a classic counter-attack from City, who “gang up” down our right. Eventually Nasri finds Dzeko with another excellent cross, and the header is exquisite.

It’s Toure again who starts this move, carrying the ball forward and picking the right pass (as he nearly always does).

Toure slots the ball ahead of our retreating players to David Silva.

Silva drives forward and releases the ball to Nasri.

Nasri faces Corluka up, and has the time to see Dzeko calling for the ball in the box. One striker surrounded by four defenders.

The ball is such that Dawson, Bale and Assou-Ekotto are bypassed, and it is down to Kaboul again to compete with Dzeko one-on-one.

Kaboul doesn’t even get off the ground – it’s awful, flat-footed defending, as he leaves Dzeko to head the ball virtually unchallenged. That said, this is not an easy header – back to goal, and twisting mid-air – but he makes it look easy.

Dzeko’s third goal – Spurs fail to re-organise having conceded a corner, and pay the price when Yaya Toure gets round the back to put the ball on a plate for Dzeko.

Defoe heads the ball away but only to Clichy, who immediately squares the ball to Barry.

There is no pressure on the ball, and Spurs are slow to re-organise defensively. Aguero pulls wide ready to receive the ball.

Barry feeds a simple ball to Aguero’s feet – he is one-on-one with Assou-Ekotto, and Yaya Toure has noticed an opportunity.

Yaya Toure cleverly makes an overlapping run, and Modric makes a token gesture to back up Assou-Ekotto. However, the lack of pressure on the ball means that Aguero can just wait for his moment and pop it down the line. Modric points for Assou-Ekotto to go with Yaya, but it is too late. Notice at this point that our defenders have a man each in the box – Corluka has David Silva, Dawson has Dzeko and Kaboul has Lescott (sort of!).

As Yaya charges towards goal, he has options – he can cut the ball back to Lescott, or he can play across the face of goal. David Silva’s movement in the six-yard box has bamboozled Corluka, who has no hope of marking him now. As a result, Dawson is left with two men to mark.

Such is the quality of the pass that it almost doesn’t matter – the best Dawson could manage is to gamble on putting a foot on the ball, which would probably end with a goal anyway.

Dzeko is left with a tap-in, and Corluka’s weak marking is highlighted by where he ends up compared to David Silva!

Aguero’s goal – Nasri finds Aguero, who is one-on-one with Dawson. He drops his shoulder, beats Dawson, and then beats Friedel too.

Aguero drops deep to help keep possession, and lays the ball off to Nasri.

He spins Dawson, and Nasri sees that he has an opportunity to catch us on the break yet again.

The pass is superbly weighted, and means that Aguero is one-on-one with Dawson.

Aguero teases Dawson – he shows him the ball…

…and then drops his shoulder and beats him on the outside.

He gets his shot away before Dawson can make a challenge. It is difficult to attribute too much blame here – Dawson is simply beaten by a far better player.

But Friedel makes it easy for Aguero – he doesn’t stand up or make himself particularly big, and Aguero’s finish doesn’t need to be anything special. It’s just toe-poked over him.

Dzeko’s fourth goal – After some patient approach play, City suddenly burst into life, and Dzeko plays a give-and-go with Barry before smashing an unbeatable shot into the top corner.

Dzeko receives the ball in midfield, and his first touch lets him down a little – the ball gets away from him.

This slip tempts Assou-Ekotto into the challenge, but Dzeko is stronger and beats him.

Dzeko progresses forward and looks to find Gareth Barry.

It’s an intelligent piece of play from Barry, who tees the ball up perfectly for Dzeko.

And he lets fly, smashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner of Friedel’s net – no chance for the goalkeeper this time.

A hugely disappointing result but, as many other bloggers have pointed out, the game was essentially lost before kick off. Redknapp’s team selection was bizarre, with no holding players selected in a game where City were deploying three of the finest attacking midfield players in the Premier League. Nasri, Silva and Aguero were afforded a ridiculous amount of space between our defence and midfield, and were able to supply Dzeko with ease.

In response, Spurs were toothless in front of goal, with Bale and Crouch missing good chances. Crouch put in a fairly typical shift – unable to lead the line effectively, and bullied by Man City’s strong centre-backs. Defoe came on and added a little bit more purpose, but the game was over at that point.